Demongod
by darthpeanut
Summary: During the battle with Saffron, Ranma exceeds his limits and is recreated. Slight crossover elements.


Subject: Saotome Ranma...recording…

-12:45:46 power level increasing...

-12:40:34 maximum output reached...

-12:39:45 burnout imminent...

-12:36:53 CAUTION! power level increasing beyond maximum levels!

-12:36:21 Human status revoked...Demongod protocol invoked

-12:35:59 Evaluating power level...Level 1.64

-12:35:58 Status change notification...sending...failed

-12:35:56 System test...runnsiQsrjARdnm,a,'4# jsssa3Q$9sj

-12:34:03 System reboot completed...recovering data

-12:34:00 Data recovery complete. All systems normal.

---

-00:00:00

Ranma woke from his sleep with a sudden premonition of danger. He

quickly rolled out of his sleeping bag and stepped out of his tent,

looking to the east. The feeling wasn't intense, nor urgent, but it was

still there in the direction of his homeland. It seemed that despite

having saved Akane yet again, things would still continue to happen.

Saffron had been the hardest fight he'd ever had, and it felt as though

he'd had to reach deeper than he'd ever imagined possible in order to

win. And that power that he'd drawn upon was still there, simmering

beneath the surface.

He released a little to hover above his palm and realised that even

this small thing was requiring more effort than ever to hold back. He'd

have to train his control a lot to make sure things didn't get out of

hand. He'd hate to release as much power as he had only 12 hours ago in

the middle of a populated area. It was strange that he had no regrets

about destroying the mountain and effectively killing Saffron. It had

needed to be done to save the woman he lo...was friends with so he had

done it. The only thing he did regret was how everyone was looking at

him now. There was almost an awe in their eyes at what he'd done. Some

even showed a little fear, but all treated him with respect. He still

wasn't sure if it was a good change.

But it was something to think about later. He looked at the night sky

and allowed himself to feel wonder at the multitude of stars you just

didn't see in the city. It was so beautiful out in the wilderness. And

in these quiet moments, he sometimes wondered why he'd ever stopped

travelling. Not that he'd ever really had any say in the matter. He

grimaced and shook his head to clear it. Right now, he had to train and

learn to control this extra power. Thinking could come later.

Several hours later, as the sky was brightening with the false dawn, an

exhausted Ranma slipped back into his tent and closed his eyes, sleep

claiming him immediately.

---

The trip back to Nerima was amazingly uneventful. Everybody was feeling

weary from the battle with Saffron so there was little of the usual

brawling associated with the group. The exception to this was Ranma and

Akane, who still seemed to find every opportunity to insult each other.

Yet there was no mallets used and the insults seemed to be more good

natured than they usually were. Everything seemed to have settled into

a quiet routine.

For Ranma, there was still the sense of danger to the east. Every step

he took added to the impending sense of dread. He was torn between

rushing ahead to find out what the cause was and walking away in the

opposite direction to avoid it. So he stayed with the group and trained

whenever he could, always taking a harder path than the others. He also

didn't seem to need much sleep anymore, so he practised focussing his

chi late at night when the others were asleep. And he'd noticed a lot

of improvement in his control. It was becoming easier and easier to

manipulate the chi in the manner he wanted.

On this night, he impulsively decided to try juggling a few balls of

chi. It was harder than he thought to hold the balls intact away from

his body and it took him most of the night to manage just two chi

balls. He was finding learning to manipulate his chi to a fine level

was harder than any martial arts technique he'd learned, but progress

was being made. He just hoped it was enough for whatever awaited them

back in Nerima.

They were only a days walk away from the port town of Tianjin now and

from there only a few days on a boat back to Tokyo. Ranma was tempted

to swim again, but he had to admit that a boat was faster and saved him

from having to stay in his cursed form for the length of the trip.

Perhaps he'd swim along beside the boat for a few hours. He didn't want

himself to lose any conditioning. Just as long as Aka...the tomboy

didn't try to swim as well, everything should be fine.

He decided to enjoy the sunrise on his last day in China and ran

towards the nearest mountain, revelling in his speed, almost bouncing

throughthe forest and up the side. He arrived with a few minutes to

spare and turned to the east. He stared as a dark stain seemed to

spread across the horizon shortly before the sun rose to wash it away.

Unsure as to whether it was simply an illusion, he walked more sedately

back to the camp, hoping that it had nothing to do with his sense of

danger he'd been feeling for the last weeks. Only a couple more days

and he'd know for sure. Just 2 more and they'd be back in Japan.

---

When he arrived back at the camp, he found his father and the others

awake and waiting for him. There was something in their posture and

movement that told him they were all braced to attack. Quizically

flicking his eyes across them all, he noticed his father walking

towards him and waited, expecting some sort of attack. He wasn't

disappointed and his father struck out with several easily blockable

punches and kicks. Noticing the others approach, he allowed his father

to throw him into a nearby tree.

He quickly flipped and paused briefly against the tree before pushing

off to the side to avoid his father's fist. Unfortunately, that put him

directly in line with Mousse, who took the opportunity launch several

sharp metal objects at him. He twisted in the air and pushed with his

chi to direct his motion to intercept Mousse as he stepped aside from

his original path. Landing heavily on Mousse's head, Ranma snapped his

leg downwards and caught Mousse across the ear then leapt off to allow

Mousse to collapse to the ground. His landing gave him just enough time

to push off into the sky towards his father and intercepted a kick,

throwing him to the ground. He could hear words in the background, but

all that was important was the fight so he ignored them.

He could see that Ryoga and Shampoo were circling to his side and Akane

was standing aside watching calmly. That left only Cologne. He leapt

forward suddenly as he realised the likely reason and narrowly avoided

the swipe of a staff. Landing directly between Ryoga and Shampoo, he

launched himself sideways at Shampoo and stepped inside her defense,

immobilising her with two quick strikes to her neck and waist. As she

started to collapse, Ranma leapt straight up, avoiding Ryoga's attack

and incidently putting himself in the path of his father. He traded

blows with his father in the air and took several hits before managing

to knock the old man back to the ground where Ryoga was standing. The

two collapsed in a heap.

For a short time he would only have to worry about Cologne, who was in

the middle of an attack. His hands blurred as he put up a desperate

defense against her staff, managing to block her strikes with only a

few getting through. He focussed his chi further and started striking

back. Several hundred strikes later, he managed to accomplish his

objective and disarmed Cologne from her staff. Suddenly, he found

himself falling to the ground as a heavy object, he guessed an

umbrella, connected with the back of his head. He had forgotten to pay

attention to Ryoga and the old man and he was about to pay the price.

He tried rolling with the blow to avoid the next strikes, but was met

with strikes from three directions. Allowing them a few more strikes,

he arranged himself and struck out in three directions simultaneously,

two connecting and dropping the opponents to the ground.

Ranma knew he was heavily injured now, but there was no way he was

going to let them beat him. Bruises covered his body, but he needed to

act quickly before they could organise to attack him again. He stood

quickly and launched at his father, the only opponent still standing

and the weakest of the three in a standing fight. A single kick in the

centre of the forehead and his father was stunned. He turned and waited

as Cologne and Ryoga prepared to attack again. Taking a brief moment to

catch his breath made him feel a lot better. However, it also gave

Cologne the opening she needed and she charged forward.

Ranma sidestepped, seemingly without passing through the intervening

space and touched Cologne several times on her back as she passed. By

the time she landed, she could no longer move. Ryoga's fist grazed him

on the side of the head as he ducked and he spun to absorb the blow. A

leg caught him in the side and he instinctively struck forward with a

fist. Hearing a grunt, he rolled away and stood up a little groggily.

The attacks came relentlessly, and he could feel himself beginning to

lose his consciousness. So he put everything he had left into a final

strike. A glowing foot rose from the ground and struck his opponent in

the head, knocking him to the ground. Ranma stayed awake long enough to

see him collapse with no sign of getting up before slumping forward

unconscious.

---

Akane watched in awe as the battle went on. She wondered briefly if

this was how Ranma fought when he was serious. She had never seen him

fight anyone or anything without taunting. He seemed calm and in

control throughout the entire fight. Why Genma had asked everyone to

join in with the morning training session, she wasn't too sure because

surely they'd easily beat Ranma as a group. Now she wasn't so sure.

Mousse had been taken out with just two strikes, Shampoo moments later

with a disabling move of some sort. He'd even just managed to disarm

Cologne. But that had to hurt. Perhaps she'd spoken too soon. He was

now on the ground and getting seriously pummelled. Cologne and Ryoga

fell down suddenly and Ranma struck his father and knocked him out of

the fight with a single blow. This wasn't normal. Normally, he only

just matched his father, but today, he was outclassing even Cologne. It

was like his skill and power had risen drastically since the last time

she saw him fight. Maybe the battle with Saffron was as difficult as

everyone said. But he couldn't have destroyed the Mountain, could he?

He wasn't that powerful...was he?

But he'd just defeated Cologne and now it was down to him and Ryoga.

And Ranma was losing this one. She sighed in relief, realising that

perhaps she was just overestimating him. Then his foot came up, glowing

very brightly, and struck Ryoga. Ryoga fell to the ground shortly

before Ranma. He had won. In shock, she stumbled across the field to

check out the survivors, starting with Ranma, who had just fallen.

Seeing nothing but the usual injuries, she checked on the rest, all of

whom just seemed to be unconscious or incapacitated. Well, there was

little she could do but wait, now. Wait and think.

What exactly had happened at Mt Phoenix? Ranma had defeated Saffron,

obviously. The top half of the mountain had been destroyed as well,

there wasn't any way to deny that. And if Ranma was really so powerful,

where would that leave her. She remembered very little about the actual

fight with Saffron, having woken up to Ranma screaming something and

holding her. She blushed a little at the memory, feeling more warmth

and love in that moment than she had since her mother died. There was

something else as well. As though Ranma had just given her something

wonderful. It had been an amazing feeling.

And he was different now. He seemed better, somehow stronger than

everyone else. She'd noticed that the others were treating him

differently as well. It was almost like they were awed at what he'd

done, and perhaps a little fearful. And she could understand that. If

he could contain enough power to destroy the mountain, was it not

possible for him to unleash that in other places. But if there was one

thing she knew about Ranma, it was that he wouldn't do that. He did

have some morals, even though he'd pick on nice people like Ryoga and

helpless animals like her P-chan. Grr...that baka. He was lucky he was

unconcsious already.

As she looked at him, her thoughts softened. He was her knight in

shining armour. She giggled at the thought of trying to get Ranma to

wear armour and laughed at the thought of him trying to speak politely.

No, he wasn't quite a knight in shining armour. But it was nice to

dream sometimes. Were they ever going to go further? Sometimes she

thought so, but sometimes she just wanted for him to leave her alone.

She wondered just how he felt about all this.

---

Ranma woke from his enforced rest and decided to lay still for a while

to check on the situation. There was only movement from one person, so

he guessed the others were either resting or still out from the fight.

How had he managed to draw in a fight with all of the group when they

were working together. He could admit to himself that he wasn't quite

that good before Saffron, but now...something had definitely changed.

Their hits had seemed less powerful than usual, and they'd been taken

out of the fight with less damage from him. It was like he'd suddenly

gotten Ryouga's strength and stamina without losing any of his speed,

perhaps even gaining as he was able to match and better Cologne.

He shrugged briefly and decided not to worry about it. It was good

enough knowing that he could defeat all of them so he sat up and looked

around, spotting Akane sitting staring blankly in his direction. The

others were all lying in various places around the field, so he got up

and walked over to Akane. Suddenly, he thought he'd better test his

abilities against Akane. He grinned to himself.

"Hey, Tomboy, hope you're not gonna make breakfast. Everyone's out

already. Don't need to knock them all out again."

Akane's head snapped up with that delicious look of pure rage that made

her even more of a tomboy. He sighed briefly in wonder that someone who

could be so cute could also be so easy to bait. And then he found

himself in the air. Nope, she still had him. One day, he'd find a way

to avoid the hammer, but at least it was good training.

He looked out east and saw dark clouds covering the horizon. The

feeling of dread swept through him and he knew something was very wrong

in Japan. They needed to get back as fast as possible. That meant the

others needed to be awoken. So he directed his descent as close as he

could to the camp, missing by only a few hundred metres. He sprinted

back to the camp and woke everyone as quickly as he could.

He proceeded to pack everything with amaguriken speed and managed to

have everything ready by the time everyone was fully awake. They all

looked at him curiously, feeling his sense of urgency. He needed to get

everyone moving, and quickly.

"Something bad has happened in Japan." And he started moving towards

the port, picking up speed as the others started following.

When all had caught up and taken a few of the packs from him, he

started telling them about what he'd seen and what he'd been feeling

for the last several weeks. Everyone looked blankly at him, but Cologne

only nodded, saying she'd felt something for the last several days. It

was confirmation for him and he picked up the pace further, forcing

everyone to move at near top speed to keep up.


End file.
